The following article is a guest post by writer Katie Moore on the topic of child-birth.

There are many decisions and options for an expecting mother to consider when preparing for the exciting delivery day! Here are a few tips for a woman to help prepare her mentally and physically for baby’s debut.

One major consideration is whether to deliver with the help of pain medication or whether to deliver naturally. Delivery with the aid of medication is also very common; using medication can help relax a mother and facilitate a more pleasant childbirth experience. It is very much a personal decision and drafting a birth plan might help to communicate to health care providers on the day of delivery. Water birthing, patterned breathing and changing labor positions are a few additional ways to help manage pain during delivery.

Along with pain management decisions, deciding on where a woman would like to deliver is another choice. There are birthing centers, midwives who make home visits, as well as the standard hospital delivery. There are also birthing coaches, or doulas, who can help with deliveries. All of these birthing locations have resulted in healthy babies being delivered and offer their own pros and cons. Insurance and what percentage is paid at the chosen facility is an important consideration. Once a location is chosen, there are typically forms that need to be filled out prior to the delivery day so a woman doesn’t have to worry about it during delivery. It is wise to make sure all registration forms are in order around the start of the third trimester in case baby decides to make an early appearance.

Other important things to consider regarding the baby include how to feed the baby. Will breastfeeding or formula be the milk of choice for the first year of life? Immediately after the baby is delivered, hospitals and birthing centers will allow bonding time for the mom and baby where breastfeeding can commence if that is the chosen method of nutrition. Also, immediately after the baby is delivered, there is the option to participate in cord blood banking. Cord blood banking is where the baby’s umbilical cord blood is collected and stored to be potentially used in the future treatment of a medical condition that may afflict the family.

No matter how much planning goes into having a child, there are guaranteed to be things that don’t go according to plan. These tips will help, but each and every birth story is unique and exciting.